If you've always wanted to try your hand at smoking meat, fish, or cheese but didn't want to drop the cash on a backyard smoker, you can always try building a stovetop model or hacking your own using Alton Brown's method, but this technique from our friends at Food52 uses the grill you already have in your backyard. With a few tools, you can transform it into a cold smoker, ready for anything you want to influse with delicious smoky flavor.

All you need to make this happen is your backyard grill (or any grill with a lid,) a soldering iron, a tin can, a can opener, and the wood chips you want to use for smoking. It's important to use a new soldering iron and a tin can without a BPA (or any other kind) of lining so you dont wind up burning off anything that'll get into the smoke. You can probably see where we're going: The wood chips go in the can, which is open on one side for the smoke to come out and has another opening for the soldering iron—which provides just enough heat to get the wood chips nice and smoldering—to fit through.

Advertisement

Put whatever food you want to smoke on the grill grate (or better yet, use a removable grate), and place the can/wood chip/soldering iron assembly right next to it. Plug in the soldering iron, shut the lid, and walk away. Set a timer for about 30-40 minutes, and let the magic happen. We have to admit—we've discussed some great ways to smoke your own food at home before, but this is a great way to do it with stuff you might already have (assuming you have a grill, that is!)—or at least is super-cheap. For a full step-by-step with more details, hit the link below.